Young and multicultural - meet the new Germany

It might be scary, but it's true: Germany are not just a tournament team any more. The team which comes to Wembley tomorrow has turned into an entertaining side that outclasses opponents rather than wears them down. Since staging the 2006 World Cup Germany have won nine of 11 matches, scoring 37 goals to two. And you thought Germans were boring. Well, not any more – Joachim Low has found a way to preserve the World Cup euphoria.

Low, who was No 2 at the World Cup, stepped up to coach the Nationalmannschaft when Jurgen Klinsmann resigned after the World Cup. Always considered the mastermind behind Klinsmann's tactics, Low retained the attacking philosophy. It has given Germany a five-point lead atop Group D in the Euro 2008 qualifying. His biggest win came in March when Germany beat second-placed Czech Republic 2-1 in Prague.

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"We had been a far cry away from the top but the World Cup and the Euro 2008 qualification campaign have helped us to close the gap," Low said. "But we can't say we're favourites to win every tournament now. In the long-term we're not yet among the top teams in the world. You have to win titles – and our last one dates back 11 years."

Eleven years of hurt. English sympathy may be muted.

The revival dates to Klinsmann's appointment after a poor Euro 2004. The former Spurs striker implemented modern training methods, an offensive set-up and – most importantly – introduced a breed of young players.

Youngsters such as Lukas Podolski (22), Bastian Schweinsteiger (23) and Philipp Lahm (23) impressed in the World Cup and are still to reach their peak. But it's not just those Bayern Munich stars that are making an impact. Last season, Stuttgart came out of nowhere to win the Bundesliga title. They relied on German talents such as former Aston Villa midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger (25), Roberto Hilbert (22) and Bundesliga top scorer Mario Gomez (22).

As the latter's surname suggests Germany, like France and England before them, are increasingly benefiting from the pool of second-generation immigrants who often offer different qualities to the traditional German player. Gomez has a Spanish father while Miroslav Klose, Podolski and Tim Borowski have Polish roots. Two 20-year-olds from Stuttgart – Sami Khedira and Serdar Tasci, who just received their first call-ups, are of Tunisian and Turkish ancestry respectively. Encouragingly the influx of players with unGermanic names has met with little comment.

As well as the young players there are proven veterans like Jens Lehmann, Torsten Frings and Michael Ballack. The latter is still held in a high esteem in his home country – despite a rough first year at Chelsea.

"He is still the most dangerous midfielder in the world," said Rudi Voeller, who coached Ballack for Germany and Bayer Leverkusen. "He just needed some time to adjust. Playing in England is very special. He had to get used to it. I have no doubts he will succeed at Chelsea and have a lot of success with them when he comes back from his injury."

Ballack was not the only one struggling last season – Bayern Munich, his previous team, did even worse. Without his leadership skills – which have barely been questioned on the national team – they slumped to a disastrous fourth-place finish, outside of Germany's Champions League qualifying places. As a consequence, they invested ¿70m on the transfer market to lure international stars such as Luca Toni, Franck Ribery and Klose.

There is concern in Germany, as in England, at the proliferation of foreign players but these were welcomed. "They are top international players which will make the Bundesliga better," Low stated. "Two years ago, the clubs invested in a lot of average players from abroad. But now we've got international stars of top quality. They can teach the youngsters a lot of things."

Ironically, Low's boys could be in for a lesson themselves on Wednesday. Germany's injury-list is as long as England's. Not that it prompts Low to change his style.

"It would be fatal to think that we can only cope with the losses by playing defensively," he said. "We want to stick to our offensive philosophy. We will try to score goals and make the most of it."